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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
M.R. Shah, B.V. Nagarathna, JJ.
M/s Chopra Fabricators And Manufacturers Private Limited – Appellant
Versus
Bharat Pumps And Compressors Limited & Anr. – Respondents
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s). 4654 of 2022
Decided On : 19-05-2022
Arrears Committee - Commercial Matters - Section 20 of Commercial Courts Act 2015 - [Section 20 of Commercial Courts Act 2015] - The court directed the Chief Justice to constitute a Special Arrears Committee to tackle arrears in commercial matters. The Committee's responsibilities include training judicial officers, reviewing disposal data, and proposing the creation of additional commercial courts in specific districts.
Fact of the Case:
The court directed the Chief Justice to constitute a Special Arrears Committee to address arrears in commercial matters. The Committee was not constituted as per the court's earlier order, and the High Court's report on tackling arrears was unsatisfactory.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the Special Arrears Committee had not been constituted as directed and was not satisfied with the High Court's proposed action plan. It also noted the absence of Judges from the Lucknow Bench in the Committee and directed the reconstitution of the Committee. The State Government was directed to consider the proposal for creating additional commercial courts in specific districts within four weeks.
Issues: Non-constitution of Special Arrears Committee, Unsatisfactory report on tackling arrears, Absence of Judges from Lucknow Bench in the Committee, Proposal for creating additional commercial courts
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the need for the Special Arrears Committee to address arrears in commercial matters and directed specific actions to be taken, including the reconstitution of the Committee and the proposal for additional commercial courts.
Final Decision: The State Government was directed to consider the proposal for creating additional commercial courts in specific districts within four weeks, and the case was scheduled for further status report on the High Court's suggestions.
ORDER
1. Vide our order dated 28.04.2022, this Court directed the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad to constitute a Special Arrears Committee of the Judges of the High Court to tackle with the problem of arrears insofar as the commercial matters are concerned. It is reported that now the Special Arrears Committee has been constituted only yesterday.
2. Our earlier order dated 28.04.2022 was very clear and there was no ambiguity at all. Despite the above, for whatever reason, the Special Arrears Committee has not been constituted till yesterday and the same has been constituted only after yesterday's hearing.
3. We were not satisfied at all with the report submitted by the High Court yesterday (18.05.2022) and the road-map and the action proposed in tackling the arrears so far as the commercial matters are concerned.
4. A further affidavit is filed on behalf of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad today. It is suggested as under:-
"b. Once fully implemented, a judicial officer would have an average of 47 such cases before himself/herself, apart from other judicial work.
c. The incentive scheme submitted under affidavit of 18.05.2022 for disposal of these cases will be correspondingly supplemented by an appropriate mechanism of entries in the ACR.
d. In terms of Section 20 of Commercial Courts Act 2015, the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad has been carrying out training of judicial officers at regular interval. Better emphasis will be given in such training to sensitize the officer towards the mandate of expeditious disposal. This training shall also be conducted through virtual mode additionally, so as to increase its frequency and efficacy.
e. The Special Arrears Committee will have a periodic review by calling monthly data of disposal from each of the 74 district. The District Judge In-charge shall be the nodal officer who shall send this data by the 7th of each month. The Special Arrears Committee shall meet at least once a month and shall concentrate on dealing with such Districts where disposal is less. Based on the data received, a virtual or physical meeting shall be conducted by the Special Arrears Committee to ensure speedy disposal of this category of cases.
f. As already submitted, the State Government shall be requested to create additional Commercial Courts in the four Districts of Gautam Budh Nagar, Meerut, Agra and Lucknow where the pendency of such cases is comparatively larger.
g. A one-time exercise shall be done under the aegis of each District Judge who would give a report as to how many and for what reasons, cases have become infructuous but are shown as pending. An endeavor shall be made to complete this exercise within a period of two months so these identified cases can be listed in one go for appropriate orders to be passed on the judicial side. For this purpose, all the concerned District Judges shall put a list of all pending cases (Execution Petition and section 34 of the Arbitration Act) on their respective websites. This will enable the lawyers appearing in those cases to inform the court if their matters have become infructuous.
h. It is submitted that the Advocates dealing with the pending petition shall be encouraged to file written note of argument by way of notice published on the website."
5. From the constitution of the Special Arrears Committee to make suggestions and formulate a mechanism to tackle with the problem of arrears, it appears that all the Judges from the Allahabad Bench are in the Committee. None of the Judges from the Lucknow Bench is part of the Committee.
We request the Chief Justice to reconstitute the Committee so that they may have further suggestions from the Lucknow Bench also as there are large number of pending commercial matters within the jurisdiction of the Lucknow Bench also. The learned Chief Justice ought to have taken the senior-most Judge at Lucknow Bench into confidence and invite suggestions from him also. Be that as it may, the learned
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